How does the Historical Commission determine if a building is historically significant?

A "significant building" is one that is whole or in part, seventy-five years old or more and which is:

  1. Listed on, or is within an area listed on the National Register of Historic Places, or which is the subject of a pending application for listing on the National Register; OR
  2. Listed in the Swampscott Historical Commission Survey, originally published in 1986, as periodically amended; OR
  3. One that is defined by the Massachusetts Historical Commission as "importantly associated with one or more historic persons or events, or with the broad architectural, cultural, economic, or social history of the town or Commonwealth."